Riots, Rage and Seeking Redemption
Small businesses have always been the seed of black economic power. From barbershops to funeral homes, these businesses provide goods and services to an underserved community. But now in Ferguson, the dreams of small-business owners are being destroyed by the same black people they serve. There are widespread reports and video footage of looters ransacking black owned business that provide jobs and goods to the community.
Many of these businesses will never recover, and if so, the business owner must think about the risks of rebuilding in the community. The looting further sinks an obscure 70 percent black town into financial and social chaos. What we are now seeing in Ferguson is a descent into “rioting for fun and profit.”
This past weekend, groups of young black men took a different stance. Instead of joining the looting frenzy, these young men actually guarded the businesses in their community. Protesters have used Twitter to post images of groups of young black men protecting a beauty store and other local businesses in the area.
Asking the crowd “why they are looting, what are they out here for?” and reminding them of the reason for the chaos, the shooting death of Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson told the crowd, “You can bend iron while it is red hot, but you don’t destroy yourself in the process.” The crowd seems to be listening and a movement is being organized and behind-the-scenes leadership is forging a possible way out of the rioting.
In synecdochic language, the nation has no love for black people. More directly, in reference to the Brown massacre, the nation hates black males. What really killed Brown extends far beyond one person, one force, one community, and reveals a system that is in place that devalues the lives of African American boys from the moment they are born. From the very hospitals where their mothers push them into existence to the graveyards where they will surely someday lay their heads, there are few to no services in marginalized communities where most commonly minority populations reside. The lack of adequate services is indicative of an ethos that disrespects and devalues black life. Moreover, in this country, where are the worst hospitals? The worst schools? The worst day care centers? The worst grocery stores? The worst libraries? The worst police precincts? The worst fire houses? The worst parks? The worst courts? The worst streets? The worst highways? The worst everything? Anything? Even graveyards … And it’s not just because these are poor neighborhoods. It’s because these are often poor, black neighborhoods. Now, the word “worst” may sound very charged to the people who reside and work in the very communities where the worst services are rendered. And surely respect is due to those who work in the trenches to make the best of the resources provided. Those well-meaning teachers and doctors and lawyers and grocers and restaurant owners are working to make the “best of” what’s available, which is often next to nothing.
But until we change the system, there will be another day, and another death.
Wilson has yet to be charged with a crime.
